newbie lens choice

Hi all
i'm new to photography and have just purchased a 550d. My main interests are wildlife and horse racing. would like some input into lens choice. my thoughts so far,
100-400mm 4.5-5.6
or
70-200mm f4 is + x1.4 ex
or
70-200mm f2.8 non is + x1.4ex

at the moment i have just 17mm-55mm kit lens and tamron 70-300mm and don't feel these give full justice to my camera or the type of photography i' interested in.

Thanks
Paul

The best bet would be 70-200 f/4 is unless you need something faster. This lens is super sharp.

do you find your 70-300mm short for what you want to do?...if so only one option is longer...

Welcome to POTN. If you will be shooting in daylight, then the 100-400 will do a great job.

Good question. I wish I could look up the threads here comparing the 100-400 to the 70-200 f/2.8 plus TC.. I am on the road.

Welcome to the Forum, you are most welcome and I hope you find this forum to be as informative and friendly as I have.
They are all great lenses for their respective uses. My main interest is wildlife photography and though I have a 70-200 F2.8IS (which I find to be a superb lens) I do not even consider putting it in my bag for wildlife photography. My subjects range in size from Deer to Dragonflies and the only one, of the three lenses that you suggest, that gave me a decent chance at all of them was my 100-400. This lens served me well on 1.6 crop and very well on a 5D mk1 for over 5 years. The 100-400 gets a lot of flak, but it's still one of Canon's most popular lenses - must mean something. If you are on a limited budget (who isn't!) the 100-400 + a good short zoom will do a decent job of pretty much anything, no other long zoom I have tried does that at anything near this price.

S.Horton wrote in post #12027207
Welcome to POTN. If you will be shooting in daylight, then the 100-400 will do a great job.

Good question. I wish I could look up the threads here comparing the 100-400 to the 70-200 f/2.8 plus TC.. I am on the road.

Tied this comparison with mine (100-400 vs 70-200 f2.8IS + 2x TC II) I was surprised at how well the 70-200 + TC performed IQ wise. However the balance/weight and slightly slower AF count against it as well as the higher price. I would suggest that the TC is a great and very useable add on to the 70-200, but if you regularly need reach then the 100-400 is better - at least that's what I found with mine.

Thanks for the welcome
my initial thoughts were the 100-400 mm for wildlife but will it be ok for horse racing sometimes in overcast conditions.
Thanks

Wildlife: A 200mm lens even with a 1.4X extender on a 1.6 crop camera is too short.

Horse racing: I live in Kentucky and wish I could live at a horse racing track. We get to see some really great horses and horse racing. I purchased my 70-200mm f2.8 IS after talking to some photographers that have track access. The 70-200mm f2.8 IS is the most popular lens. I got the IS version after being told "You are going to spend so much money you might as well go on and get IS version. At least you will have it if you ever need it."

I have not needed it yet but I do have it if I ever do need it. Take that for what it is worth.

I met one professional that uses the 300mm f2.8 and he claims it is the perfect lens for horse racing. He stands in the infield and shoots the horses with the grandstands in the background. Needless to say his work is spectacular.

From experience: Focal length is highly dependent upon the proximity to the horses. My 24mm-105mm at 24mm is best during post parades if the horses are near the stand-side rail. When the races are on the inner course 300mm is much better.

A 70-200mm f/2.8 lens is the best compromise if taking one body and one lens to the races. I try to keep shutter speed faster than 1/1000 sec. The f/2.8 is very useful if light conditions get poor. I use that setting in late afternoon or if there is a distracting background.

I'll add another vote for a 70-200 f/2.8 + TC. For wildlife, if you're shooting static shots, the IS will certainly help. For BiF or any other motion, the IS isn't going to do anything to stop action.

I haven't checked the used market prices lately, but I think a 70-200 f/2.8 non-IS is about (+/- $100) the same price as a used 100-400 f/4.5-5.6. Check out the review on the new Kenko DGX TC's. There are a couple of threads here on them, and people are producing some very nice images with them. You should be able to pick up a used 70-200 f/2.8 non-IS and a 1.4x and 2x Kenko DGX TC for <$1300. For another $300-$400, you should be able to get the MK I IS version of the lens.

IS may not help to stop the action on a BIF...but it certainly helps to keep the viewfinder stable allowing you to lock focus easier...